Technically, he's right since 11.11...% is less than 13.4%. To get an accurate representation, we would need 0.134 * 9 = 1.206 black people on the Court. This could be achieved if the next candidate were 13/64 = .203125 black, i.e. if 13 of his or her great-great-great-great grandparents were black and the other 51 were some other race. This approximation would be precise to the 2nd decimal place which is really all we can expect given that the original statistic of 13.4% is probably rounded. A slightly more precise approximation could be achieved by looking for someone 53/256 = .2070312 black, but that would just be silly.

More math satire, from Mike S:

The views of Blacks (13% of the population) are only under-represented on the court if they are on the LOSING end of an 8-1 or 9-0 decision. If they are on the losing end of 7-2, 6-3, or 5-4 decisions, or on the winning side of any decision, they are over-represented.

The views of whites (60% of the population), on the other hand, are under-represented if they are on the LOSING end of ANY decision.

Therefore, to be fair, all supreme court cases should be decided by a nationwide poll of white people.

17 comments:

Since race is what matters, I propose that The One (PBHU) appoints one my sisters. Their father was 1/4 black, and my mother is 1/4 Chinese. They are both Cubans, which makes them Hispanic, and of course they are both women. And most importantly, they are able to feel empathy.

The facts that they do not live in the US, and have absolutely no law training whatsoever; are not really important given he criteria being put forth by most.

Something else to keep in mind is that most black Americans have some percentage of recent (last 10 generations or so) white ancestry. So the 13.4% of "black" Americans might only be 11 or 12% African (with the caveat that if you go back far enough we're all African).

Something else to keep in mind is that most black Americans have some percentage of recent (last 10 generations or so) white ancestry. So the 13.4% of "black" Americans might only be 11 or 12% African (with the caveat that if you go back far enough we're all African).

I've been struggling with this as well. It seems to get this right we're going to have to have ancestry documentation from every supreme court justice going back at least ten generations. Then we should be able to compute the exact racial composition of the person we're looking for to fill the vacant seat. If there's more than one person with the correct ancestry we should just pick the best looking one.

@ Freeman Hunt "Well, I'm putting forth the name of Walter E. Williams, and anyone who opposes the effort to nominate him is a racist."I second the nomination. He recently stated that he used to be called to testify before Congress but they stopped calling him because he would go to the Hill and tell them that they were the cause of the problems. A great combination of intellect and attitude and just what the Court needs.